Red, White & Bluegrass Beans...

Claude sits on the Board for the Scott County Senior Center.  This  year the Senior Center determined they would begin a new tradition, a Bean & Cornbread Cook-off to raise money for the Senior Center.

The date was picked, Friday, April 27th. The time was set, 11am to 1pm. The contestants were conscripted:

• Judge Executive for Scott County, George Lusby
• Mayor of Georgetown, Everett Varney
• Mayor of Stamping Ground, Billy Swartz
• Mayor of Sadieville, Claude Christensen

Interviews were requested by the Georgetown News-Graphic. Chef Christensen, my hubby, was quoted in the April 21st edition with this story about his 'bean history':

"My first introduction to 'bean cuisine' was as a little cowboy out west.  Beans were either baked or barbequed as a rule, but there was this thing we called 'Ranch Beans'. These were brown beans often done in a cast iron pot over an open fire. They were fairly straightforward with onion, garlic, and pork or beef in addition to the usual salt, pepper (red and black and jalapeno that you would in the area) plus whatever contribution the open fire would make such as wood ash, or sage brush.

"Later as a young man I was stationed in Louisiana where I met a pretty young southern girl who fell in love with me immediately. She had a mother who loved to cook and was very good at it. It was here in the heart of the deep South that I was introduced to 'Red Beans and Rice'. These were kidney beans soaked in water for about 10 years and cooked up with purple onion and other spices, flavored with pork, usually bacon and/or ham hock, to a thick consistency and then served over white rice. They had a different flavor than did the brown beans we ate out west and for me, the rice was a new twist. It was here that I learned cornbread was as much a religious experience as it was a meal staple.

"So as far as the cook off is concerned I'm still deciding on which direction I'll take, ranch beans or red beans, beef beans or pork beans...I have no doubt that Chef Lusby knows his way around a bean pot, which is not to say I think he's full of beans, and Chef Varney may well be the best dressed of our beaner chefs. Mayor Schwartz may be the sleeper, and I'll have to keep an eye on him as it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for.

"I'll be content to let my beans 'do the talking' and leave it at that. The fact that I'm an award winning chili maker should instill some level of fear in my competitors. Not to put too crass a point on it, but, I'm also assuming that those eating the beans will be signing a release of liability statement."

Judge Lusby was sure I would be cooking Claude's beans for him. Claude tried to assure him that was not how the cooking works at our home. You see, Claude does the cooking and I do the dishes. After cooking all the time we raised kids we somehow settled into retirement with me cooking and then slowly Claude took it over. It was not a difficult thing for me to let go of at all.

Everyone agreed that Mayor Varney would be the best dressed at the competition.

So, with several newspaper articles, with signage placed strategically around the Georgetown area, with beans and cornbread being prepared in the chef's homes as practice for weeks prior to the event, with Facebook posts in place, we approached Friday morning with Chef Christensen making his final batch of corn muffins and making sure that crockpot full of beans was in perfect flavor status.

The event was held at the Scott County Extension Office. Claude had to have his entry there a bit early so he left home before me. I arrived and found him and Judge Lusby having a nice conversation and Jarod participating. Jarod is the Judge's assistant. I did have to tease him about who he would vote for.

In a few minutes Geni was there telling us we all needed to head outside, Mayor Varney was about to make a grand entrance and we all needed to see it. Grabbing my camera we all dutifully headed outside and, sure enough, it was a grand entrance.

That's right folks, the Mayor of Georgetown, Kentucky arrived in an armored vehicle and was excorted in by three of Georgetown's finest. Mayor Varney did carry his own crock pot of chili. One police officer carried the ladle and another had a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist with Mayor Varney's secret recipe locked inside. One can only shake one's head and laugh. Love living in small town America.

There was a panel of judges made up of contributors to the event. They carefully tasted each Chef's beans and commented to each other. They took this assignment very seriously.

While the judges were tasting and conferring, the Chef's were asked to come to the front of the room and each say a little about their chili recipe. They are Chef Christensen, Chef Swartz, Chef Varney and Chef Lusby.

 

The judges made their decision. It was not a shut out but three of the four judges agreed on one of the chefs. The chefs were asked to come to the judges table for the announcement of the winning chef. Each chef was allowed to make closing comments.

Then the winner was announced. And the winner was and is...drum roll please...

The Honorable Mayor Claude J. Christensen of Sadieville, Kentucky!!!

The trophy is a cast iron pot with a plaque on the outside. Sadieville is where it will reside for the year. Next year it will be taken to the 2nd Annual Bean and Cornbread Cook-off and the winner of that competition will have the honor of keeping the trophy for a year.

Claude was one happy Chef.

This was a wonderful event and handled very well by the Senior Center. Seniors were in attendance and enjoyed their bean meal as well. They actually asked the seniors to stay seated and they would serve them their meal. All others were to get in line to receive their meal. Detta Wilson and JoCarol Wilson came in from Sadieville to support Claude. I told them I would sit with the purses as they got their beans and cornbread. The funny thing was they brought me beans and cornbread along with the seniors. I guess this could be one of the perks of having gray hair!!!

Yeah Claude!! You were the best one in your row!! Detta, JoCarol, Claude and I were already thinking ahead to add to our Sadieville sign something like 'Bean Champions of Scott County - 2012 to 2013'. What do you think???

Doing The Job Right...

Where to begin with this post...hmmm...

When we moved to Kentucky, the man who built our home, Herb Archer, was a City Commissioner in Sadieville. He was responsible for public works. He was at a point where he didn't feel he could serve on the City Commission and, knowing Claude came to their meetings as a citizen and seemed interested, approached Claude to see if he might be interested in possibly finished his term. Claude said he would be interested.

The end result was that Herb resigned and the commission voted Claude in to complete Herb's term. Claude took over Herb's area of responsiblity which included the sewer project.

Sadieville had an old 'package plant' for their sewer plant. The project was to put new sewer lines in Sadieville, get rid of all the old septic tank systems at homes and connect them to the new sewer lines, and have all this connect to Georgetown's water treatment system. The end result is Sadieville would no longer be in the sewer business.

The target completion date was several years ago. These things hit snags with people, property, money needs, weather, legal issues, etc., etc., etc. The plan to accomplish all of this was divided into three phases with Eagle Bend (the subdivision we live in) being the third phase and, if funds didn't last, it would not be done. Amazingly we are at phase three and, through careful management, we will compete all the project including Phase 3 in Eagle Bend.

Eagle Bend is the newest homes and they each have a septic system that had lines connecting to a main line to the pumping station near the entry to Eagle Bend. In the course of planning they found this main line to the pumping station was not large enough to carry what it needed to. What they had to do in Phase 3 is to replace the smaller main line pipe with a larger one and also connect the piping from the house to the main sewer line and eliminate the septic tanks.

Thursday, April 12th they came and located the septic tank and dug a hole in the yard around the pipe that comes to the surface. They did this in all 15 homes in Eagle Bend.

Monday, April 23rd they came and drained the septic tank. That is what the picture is at the beginning of this blog. This truck with the logo "Doing the Job Right" parked in front of our home and ran a hose to the back yard to inhale all that septic gunk. Yuck!!

Tuesday, April 24th they were back again to destroy the septic tank, connect the new pipe and fill in that hole. Fortunately I was home because I really wanted to watch this process and get some pictures of it. Claude was not home and I wanted him to be able to watch it. I positioned myself on the deck outside the living room for the morning shooting of still pictures and taking video. The guys just chuckle at me but they don't seem to mind being in my pictures.

I was reminded as I watched these guys work of the work done on the sycamore tree last year when they topped it and cut off branches that might rest on the power lines in an ice storm. I noted then it was like watching a ballet that was perfectly choreographed. This process was much the same in my view. There were three men and they each knew the part they were to play and exactly what to do to assist the others. Very few words transpired, a few hand movements and a few words, but for the most part it was just smoothly accomplished.

They first thing was to completely remove the dirt and grass from the entire surface area of the septic tank. It turned out that tank was a lot larger than I had imagined.

Once the top was exposed, they used the claw on the backhoe to pound and break up the concrete top. The broken pieces of concrete were pushed into the bottom of the septic tank. The piping was replaced with a new piece to extend to the surface upon completion of our link to the sewer. Then a bulldozer came several times with its shovel full of gravel to fill in the septic tank and the hole before placing the dirt back on top.

Then, when the hole was as full of gravel as needed, the dirt was carefully shoved into place and pounded down with the backhoe. 

I was amazed at the number of bull dozer loads of gravel it took to fill that hole. The day before they did my next door neighbors and they brought all the gravel to fill their septic tank and hole in a wheel barrow down their hill in multiple trips. I remembered distinctly looking out my dining room window and watching the youngest of the group resting before lifting a wheel barrow load of gravel to push it down the hill. I asked the guys how many wheel barrow loads it took to fill one of those septic tanks and the hole they made. They gave me a number between 40 and 50. Goodness. That made the 5 or 6 bulldozer loads they used on my home a lot easier for them.

The surface was raked so that it was smooth and even and as much grass as possible was left in place.

I have so much video of this process. I'm hoping Hayden gets a kick out of watching this heavy equipment come off our empty lot into the back yard and then work their magic.

I made an observation as I watched these guys working so well together. There were two middle aged guys and they drove and ran the heavy equipment. Then there was a younger fella, probably in his early 20's, working with these guys. Clearly he was the grunt laborer of the group. Even though that was his job it was clear his role was not looked down on by the older two guys. And, just as clearly he understood he needed to work with the guys to learn this trade. I felt a great deal of admiration and respect for this working arrangement. Everyone's role was needed and appreciated. I was happy to see a young person knowing that they needed to learn from the ground up (no pun intended) and happy to do that with men he respected and seemed to enjoy working with. It was just a good lesson in how life should operate.

Now the guys have started the trench from the pumping station along the back of our yards on the creek side. When that pipe is laid and in working position, the project will be finished. 

The next step is to turn our system over to Georgetown and Sadieville will be out of the sewer business completely. And...most importantly...my hubby will be a very happy man.

A Really Good Day...

The title of this Blog entry about says it all. Once and in a while you just have one of those days that you enjoy and you feel satisfied and good about at the end. The amazing thing it that it is not really full of overwhelmingly outstanding events. It just feels good all day long. Last Wednesday was one of those days for me.

The morning was filled with getting my exercise for my arm done, some computer stuff completed and my ironing done.

In the middle Claude and I put on our Sadieville T-shirts and headed into Georgetown in separate cars to participate in the Start Walk event. It is an annual thing. They block off the courthouse square and booths are set up that have to do with good health. Then you may participate in one or more of the walks that are set to start from the courthouse. We choose the green walk. We signed in and picked up our T-shirt. Then we were off at a leisurely pace to walk down Main Street, then up around Georgetown College and back to Main Street. We ended our walk with lunch at Subway. After a nice walk those sandwiches tasted great.

Claude and I parted ways then. I had some gift shopping to complete and some ladies to visit.

I ended my afternoon at the nursing home with my parents. I put some new clothes in my mom's closet that I purchased for her the day before.  Then Papa and I entertained the residents with that pickin' and grinnin' we do every Wednesday afternoon..

Afterward I headed back to Sadieville where Claude eventually met me. We changed into nicer clothing, hopped in the Jeep and were off to a Bluegrass ADD quarterly dinner meeting.

They had two speakers on their program that night. One was particularly outstanding. She had been a captain on a UK women's basketball team (I think I have that sport right). She had a college education and at some point made that tragic decision to try drugs. This led to more bad decisions and eventually felony charges and a 10 year prison sentence. Quite a downward spiral for this lady.

She is African-American and began her address by rising from her round table, where she had eaten dinner, and walking to the podium while singing a beautiful spiritual kind of song. I didn't know the name of it. I'm a lover and appreciator of this kind of music and she had my attention immediately. It is just such fun music to harmonize with even if you don't know the piece of music. I found myself humming a bit of harmony quietly with her.

Then she told her story and what she had been hired by Bluegrass ADD to do. The program takes about 12 prisoners that are being released from prison and helps them find housing and then trains them to work. They have many classes they can be trained in. Then they help them find a job. Their success rate is 100% of the prisoners NOT returning to prison. What a great program!! What a great use of money and time and energy!! They work with faith-based community programs which is a huge help. We gave this speaker a standing ovation and tears were flowing freely.

As we drove home, I said to Claude, "This has just been a good day."  He whole-heartedly agreed.

I guess there are many days that have ups and downs. These truly help me appreciate a day that is just full of good things. For I will hold that day in memory as I deal with the up and down days. This is a blessing and one of Heavenly Father's tender mercies in my life.

Feeling Nostalgic...

While checking Facebook the other day, I noted a post from my oldest grandmonster. She posted a picture and we were to 'like' it if we knew what it was. Here is the picture.

I knew immediately what this picture was and it brought back lots of memories that began to roll into other memories.

First...What is it?  It is a pair of speakers on a post. They have cords on them that connect to the post. There is also a hook on the back of each speaker. You would go to a drive-in movie and pull your car up next to a speaker. You roll your window part way down, take the speaker out of its holder, hang the speaker on your partially rolled down window and set the volume. Then you watched the movie and heard the sound right in your car.

Drive-in movies were the best. They all seemed to have a play ground at the base of that huge white screen. While everyone was arriving and picking their parking spots between rows of these speakers, your parents would take you up to the play ground to play on all that lovely (but probably unsafe by today's standards) playground equipment. Then, when the cartoon before the movie came on, you knew it was time to head back to your car to watch the cartoons and then the movie.

If there was money in your pockets, you might go to the concession stand located in the center of all those cars. You could get everything you do at the theater concession stand today from food to eat to candy and popcorn and drinks.

I don't remember what movies we watched at the drive-in when I was a kid but I clearly remember the fun of being all bunched together in our car watching the movie.

The thing I commented to Katelyn about on her Facebook post was that these speakers should also have the mosquito repellant it was mandatory to purchase. These were little coil shaped things that you lit with a match. Then they very, very, very slowly burned down and as they burned the mosquitos would stay away. Very important feature for being outdoors on a summer evening with the windows down in your car.

I then thought back to our own little family unit. Claude had a big Ford truck at one point. He bought it used. It was a pale yellow color with brown on it too. The previous owner had taken a sheet of metal the size of a full bed and placed it in the back of the truck on the top of the sides near the cab. Then they put a camper shell on top. They also put a full boot in the window on the back of the cab of the truck through the camper shell window. This allowed our little children to climb easily from the front to the back of the truck. There was a full size mattress on that metal allowing the kids to stretch out on their tummies and watch the movie through the boot. Claude and I could each sit on one side of the front seat. Then when the kids fell asleep, they were already on a bed. Claude purchased plywood and carpet scraps. He made a floor for the portion of the bed of the truck between the full bed on the metal frame and the door out the back of the camper shell. This gave a carpeted floor space for the kids to play on. When we went camping all our camping gear went under the full bed, the kids played on the carpeted floor or the bed and through the boot to the cab of the truck. It was such a fun vehicle for our family. No...there were NO carseats for kids. There were not even seat belts. Once again, unsafe by today's standards but we never felt unsafe. We just had tons of fun and built lots of memories in the truck. It was perfect for going to the drive-in.

Our habit was to drive-thru Burger King or McDonald's and get a bag of 15 little hamburgers and a bunch of french fries. This was much less expensive than the concession stand. We would get to the drive-in, the kids would play, the cartoons would start and we would hurry back to our truck for burgers and fries for dinner and cartoons and a movie for entertainment. So much fun and the price was just right.

Thank you for the memories with your Facebook post Miss Katelyn. I highly recommend taking your family to a drive-in movie if you can find one close to you. I know there is still at least one about an hour from us. If you can't do that, just enjoy those new inventions like watching what you DVR'd while eating those frozen buffalo wings you can pop in the microwave today. The important part is to build the good memories to last a lifetime.

Racing...

We are fortunate to have Keeneland in Lexington. We are also fortunate to have Toyota. They sponsor the Bluegrass Stakes in April of each year at Keeneland. Since Claude is Mayor we are invited. Last Saturday was the day.

However, our Stake Relief Society planned a wonderful 'Time Out for Sisters' that morning. Claude loaded some Indexing files on his computer and took me to this event first. He found a room at the church and worked on his Indexing while I attended my meeting. It was a perfectly wonderful cup-filling kind of morning. There were three speakers. The first was from Indianapolis and spoke about depression. She is a therapist. The second assists birth mothers who might be giving their babies up for adoption. She was from Evansville, Indiana. She spoke about teaching your children about sex and a bit about adoption. The last was a wonderful young mother who spoke about healing from addictions. These ladies were amazing speakers. Then our stake president spoke and tied all their talks together. A beautiful soloist ended the program with a slide show in the background as she sang. Great beginning to a day.

I hurried out at the completion of my meeting and Claude drove us to Keeneland on the opposite side of Lexington as fast as he could. We had preferred parking in a lot close to the stadium but we had to be there before 1:30. I think we got in our spot about 1:25pm. Yike!! Then we hurried upstairs to the Lexington room for our lunch and to watch the races for the afternoon.

This was such a pleasant afternoon. Just love watching those horses run. We also get to meet new people. Vinnie was at our table. He is in charge of quality control for production at the Toyota plant in Georgetown. And the other person was the manage of the Kentucky Horse Park.

As we sat at our table by this huge wall that is all window, Claude and I reflected on Papa's stating he wanted to go to Keeneland sometime. They only run races for a few weeks in the spring and again in the fall. We pulled out our Blackberries and coordinated a time on Thursday that we could take him. I talked with Papa Sunday and he was all eager to go.

Today we took Papa to Keeneland. Claude had a meeting in Georgetown. He dropped me off at the nursing home to visit with Mimi and Papa while Papa fed her. Then Papa took me back to his apartment and we waited for Claude. Claude got us about 2:30pm and we were off to the races.

Papa's previous experience with this was with a man he knew in Louisiana who had horses that raced at Louisiana Downs. Papa and Mimi had gone with this man to see his horses and watch some races. Papa was blown away by the size of Keeneland and the number of people in attendance.

Claude got us seats in the reserved seat area which is under the cover. This kept us in the shade. We had to hike a good distance to get into the stadium. Papa was grateful for the seat and loved being in the shade. Once we were all settled, we left Papa with my purse and Claude and headed to get lunch for us. Barbeque sandwiches were sooooo good. We watched the last four races of the day. One was even on turf. Papa totally enjoyed himself. It was great to get him out and about and check something off his bucket list.

I must say, when we dropped him off at his apartment, I said, "Papa, enjoy your nap."  He said he was going to do just that. I bet he is still asleep!! 

On The Hill...Not Over It...

Several years ago my dear hubby made me a very large flower bed on our hill. It has a stone step path down the middle to his altar. Last fall I went down and weeded both sides of this flower bed in the hopes that when spring came I wouldn't have so much weeding to do. Alas, that was not the case.

Claude came up this year after mowing the yard for the first time and said something like, "I don't know where it all came from but your flower beds are full of grass." That would be considered an understatement. Me thinks I just made the hill angry and it spoke back to me in grass, clover, dandelions, and many other obnoxious weeds.

Well, with my torn rotator cuff I couldn't just run down there and work on them.

However, my Andie brought me a plethora of flora and fauna to plant in these beds. These were all items from her yard that she wanted to thin down. What can I say, Andie inherited the Mimi gene for gardening. Me...not so much. But I do love a nice flower bed and yard. These plants were just what I needed to fill some more in my flower beds.

This meant that Thursday morning, April 12th, I spent my morning with Claude visiting a friend. Claude took me to lunch at Wendy's after our visit. Then I suited up in work clothes and headed down my hill to my flower beds with tools and two bags of plants from Andie. I think I started my weeding at 1pm and I came back up the hill for the last time at 7:15pm. I only got one bed weeded and the plants I took down on four bags of plants planted. It was a wonderfully cool day and perfect for working on a very tough spot of ground.

I still had many bags and containers of plants to plant. It would be Tuesday, April 17th before I could make my way down that hill again to clean the weeds out of the other side. I dressed for mess, stopped on the back porch to gather my tools and some more of the containers of things to plant and headed down the hill. The ground was still wet with dew and about half-way down I slide. Oh My Goodness!!! My first thought was my torn rotator cuff that is healing slowly but surely.  I did not want to ruin that shoulder. I slide leaning to my right and was cushioned by the plants I was carrying. My left knee took the brunt of the fall this time. I sat until I was sure I was okay. Then slowly got up and carried my stuff down leaving one bag on the hill for later. Geez!!  I worked on that plot and finished carrying plantings down the hill until about 4:30pm. Then I headed to one other large bed I needed to weed. I finished it about 5:30pm and headed inside to get ready for Claude and me to take friends to dinner that night.

I did put one of the plants Andie gave me in the front flower bed. As I was walking around to the back porch on the outside of the house, I found a HUGE bag full of grass to be planted. Claude was home and trying to cut the lawn at that point. He looked up from the tractor and saw me looking in dismay at this enormous bag. It was way to heavy for me to lift and it needed planting. I just started to laugh that ridiculous laugh one does when one does not want to cry. Claude could tell what was going through this brain O'mine. He simply stopped the tractor and pointed to one of his water breaks. The fountain grass in it didn't make it through the frost this spring. He wanted to put this big bag of grass in that spot. Hallelujah!!! I was one happy lady.

Yesterday after my physical therapy I went to Walmart to see if they had weights that were 4 or 5 pounders. I wandered into the garden section to look for little flag holders. This led to a stroll through the flowering plants. I came home with a deep red petunia to go in the front flower bed, 3 spearmint plants, and 3 marigold plants to put in the flower bed under my sewing room window in the back yard. I thought I would get them in the ground today. Alas, that was not to happen. So tomorrow morning I get that planting done.

It feels so good to have as much done as I have been able to do. I have enjoyed being outdoors. This hill is a killer but the view is heavenly and the birds are quite a bit of entertainment.

Tuesday while weeding the last bed I heard what I thought was the train quite a distance away. Then the sound seemed different and getting closer. I looked up in the sky and saw 5 military helicopters flying in a 'V' formation in the direction of Georgetown. Hmmm...I must admit my thoughts ran to what it must feel like in war torn countries when you are out doing life's little chores and suddenly there is war around you. It was not a pleasant feeling.

In a few minutes another sound caught my attention and I again looked heavenward to see a huge helicopter, the kind with propellers on both ends heading the same direction as the 5 other little helicopters.

After a few minutes I again heard a sound that strikes terror to my heart. After 9/11 we would hear, frequently throughout the day, fighter pilots soaring overhead to be sure everything in the Washington, DC area was safe. Living in DC during 9/11 evoked strong feelings and they resurfaced as I again heard these fighter planes. There was cloud cover and they were high above the clouds so I did not see them but their sound was headed in the same direction as the previous aircraft.

So my flower beds are ready to be maintained throughout the summer, I have more planting to do and I'm pleased with what I've been able to do so far. Yeah me!!!

They're Back...

Hayden and Bailey started their Spring Break Easter weekend and it would go through the week following Easter. Andie has made a point of bringing them over for a couple of days during their Spring Break. Monday (April 9th) and Tuesday (April 10th) were the days for their visit this year. They would head back home Wednesday.

What a difference two little ones make in this home!!  They hit the ground running after their car ride and just fill up a day in the most wonderful way.

Bailey found the box of barrettes in the guest bedroom and proceed to fix her own hair and add several barrettes to the style.

Hayden also impressed us with his Cub Scouting skills. He just advanced from Tiger to Wolf. He asked for a rope. Claude got one from the garage. Hayden assured Claude it was too short. So Claude headed out to get a longer rope. Then Hayden laid it out in a figure 8 and proceeded to make a square knot out of it. He also used one of my exercising bands to make another knot. I can't remember what he called it but Claude told him Grampa Evan called it a half-hitch.

I purchased some Lego-like toys and the kids and I worked on putting them together.

They both had a good round of fun in the big tub with the water jets going.

Papa came out Monday night and visited. He enjoyed reading through the album I just finished of our January cruise. He read every single page and enjoyed the pictures (99 pages of text and pictures). He laughed out loud at the picture of the cemetery in the center of town. Our tour guide told us it was the 'dead center of town'. I had labeled that picture accordingly and Papa got a real laugh out of it.

Kite flying filled a part of the afternoon as well. I was so pleased I could get my left arm up enough to help get the kite in the air. That is really progress for my left shoulder and it truly felt great. Something I was taking for granted and now will recognize every time how great movement is. They kids loved holding the kite and trying to chase and catch it. Tiny just enjoyed running the hill with them.

Monday night we asked the kids where they wanted to sleep. They both said they wanted to sleep in the basement. Wonder of wonders!! They have done this before but it was when Aubrey and Paul were down there with them throughout the night. This time they would be staying down there just the two of them. Now, our basement is a welcoming place but for a little kid that is a good distance from the adult protective figures in their lives. They made it through that night just fine. We were duly impressed.

Tuesday was our full day to play. We started with Hayden's favorite breakfast of cinnamon rolls. I also scrambled some eggs and fried up some bacon.

I'm trying to clean out the shelves in the storage that hold my seminary materials. In doing that I determined to empty out the big ziplock bags of items I used as clues for scripture mastery. I had a bag of these items upstairs and used it for our game in the morning. Hayden and Bailey each took an item from the bag and placed it in front of them. Once the bag was empty each was given a minute or so to think up a story or play using the items they took out of the bag. Then I made a video of each of them telling their story. By the end of Bailey's exceptionally long story, they were playing with the items together. I think we could call that a success.

While Andie got her shower, the Mini's and I looked for another way to channel their energy. I looked around the room and found the throw rugs I made for in front of the sink and in front of the stove. Hmmm...two rugs and two kids. Just right. We proceeded to have rug races. Amazing how much fun that can be.

We had a good day, a little cool but great otherwise. So we headed to Sadieville's park to play.Bailey and Hayden learned to play on the teeter-totter together. I thought Andie would have heart failure trying to get them to understand they couldn't just get off when they wanted to. They needed and adult to steady the opposite end so that the other person wouldn't go flying through the air. It took a few times but they finally got the hang of doing that. It was delightful watching them. Hayden would get Bailey up in the air and she would bounce and laugh. As Bailey so dearly puts it, "I yuv to yalf!"

Hayden also taught Bailey how to go down the fireman's pole.

Hayden was totally enjoying climbing the outside of this yellow slide. I did get him to pause long enough for a good picture though.

Another one of Hayden's goals was to practice riding his bike. He made three laps around the track at the park. Yeah Hayden!!

While Hayden did his third lap, Bailey and I took a little hike across the park and down by the creek. The fence had been pulled down and we could walk where I had never walked before. I was able to get pictures of the bridge over Luke Road.

Bailey also picked a few wild flowers to take back to Andie. She hid them behind her back as she ran across the park to give them to her.

When we got back, Hayden and Andie had finished Hayden's lap and were having a nice chat waiting for our return.

We called Claude and asked him to meet us at the caboose. He came with snacks in hand. He unlocked the caboose and the kids had fun climbing in, around, under and through the caboose.

When the Mini's were officially worn out, Claude said he would pay them each if they would help him with a chore at the house. There was an affirmative response on the part of the Mini's. So we all headed back to the house.

Claude's chore was to help him spread some mulch around the bench on the hill.

After finishing their work, Claude gave them each a turn sitting on top of one of his tree stumps. The fun of country living. These are big ticket kinds of entertainment.

They got a little ride in the Jeep. Since we don't have car seats in it they don't usually get to do anything but sit in the Jeep. They are a bit older and I'm guessing Andie must have said yes, so Claude took them down the hill and up and down the flat and then back up the hill. You can tell they enjoyed it by the look on Hayden's face.

Wednesday was head home day. We had the morning together and then the Marx van headed to Louisville for lunch with Michael.

One little thing happened that I'll treasure for a very long time. Hayden was curled up on my lap and we were hugging each other. I could hug hard or long enough for this young man. He looked up at me at one point and said, "I wish I was glued to you."  Later in the visit I watched and heard him do and say the same thing with Andie. I love hugs. So happy he loves hugs that much.

It was a fun visit. Thanks for including us in your Spring Break. Let's do that again next year!!

Easter...

This Easter was indicative the passage of time.

I awoke earlier than needed so I could do that hour of exercises on my shoulder. As I did the exercises and watched the sun working its way further in the sky, I realized there were no colored Easter eggs in my home, there were no baskets filled with goodies for little ones to come and find. I felt a little sad about that. While Easter is clearly not about baskets full of goodies or colored eggs, they do make for some extra energy and fun in a home.

I had purchased a new blouse I could wear with the scarf we got at Caribelle Batik while on our cruise in January. That would be my 'Easter outfit'.

After I was all ready and about to leave, I received a call from my father. He was very dizzy and was not going to attend church that morning. He just didn't want me to worry. We determined it might be the new pain medication his doctor has prescribed for him. He just started taking it. I read the information about the drug on the Internet the night before and knew this might be one of the side effects. Papa assured me he was okay alone, he just didn't feel like he could be out and about that dizzy. I assured Papa I would be there in the afternoon to check on him and I'd keep my cell phone close so he could call if his situation changed at all.

We had a nice Easter program at church. I played the piano for the choir to sing their two numbers. After teaching my Sunday School lesson I skipped Relief Society so I could get to the nursing home to feed mom. I really didn't want Papa trying to do that if he was dizzy.

Mimi at well and ate quite quickly for her. She was in good spirits and chuckled a time or two and rattled off some phrases that only meant something to her.

Then I went to check on Papa. He was well enough that we picked out some songs for singing in the nursing home on Wednesday. His dizziness was subsiding a little. We discussed what he was taking and the information I read on the Internet about his new drug. He is going to take it less frequently but still steadily to help him and that will hopefully work to dull his pain and keep him not so dizzy.

I headed out to Sadieville for a quiet rest of my day. No children. No Easter baskets. But a good day nonetheless.

Officially Old...

Somehow, when you turn 55 and they send you an AARP application it seems like you are beginning to age. However, my 50's were the best decade of my life. Not sure why but I truly enjoyed them. I joked about being old and I felt it in the joints and gray hair but really I felt younger than my 50+ years mentally and enthusiastically.

Then I hit 60 and realized I was truly aging. Again, I can't really explain it but I definitely could tell a marked difference.

Claude and I started talking about our social security and when we should file. You can file at 62 but if you wait a few years longer you can get a few more dollars each month. When we plotted retirement we factored the social security income as a pay raise to our retirement.

Claude and I were talking last night and he told me he applied for his social security. I was impressed. We discussed how easy it was filing on-line.

This morning Claude got a phone call from the Social Security Administration. I answered it in the basement and took the phone upstairs to Claude. Then I went back downstairs to work. I was surprised when he came down with the phone in his hand for me.

It seems, during his discussion with the nice lady at the Social Security Administration, she realized I would be eligible to file in a few months. She could actually complete my application over the telephone if I wanted to do that. I assured her I intended to file at 62. So she took my information and that was that!!!

Goodness, I'm officially old and going to being to get social security. It seems like something way in the future and now it will be a reality in a few months. So be gentle with me and patient and kind and understanding. Allow me the privilege of moving a little slower as I continue to accomplish things. I'm old but there is still a lot of life in this 'old girl'.

A Little Bird Told Me...

Sometimes in life we have a moment with the past floods back in pleasant waves of remembering. This morning was one of those for me.

I was in my laundry room which has a little window to the back yard. I had the window open to let fresh cool air in while the dryer was doing its warming up the house thing. As I folded a towel I heard a little bird outside singing up a storm. I paused just a minute to listen and a cool breeze came in the window. Suddenly I was a kid again in Louisiana and happy memories came to mind.

For a moment I was at my mother's parents, Gramma and Grampa Fisch. They lived way out in the country in southern Louisiana. They had no running water and no electricity. Visiting there was always chock full of fun.

I remembered napping on a pallet in the hallway and that same kind of breeze blowing over me. I remembered Jeep rides with Uncle Clifford, my mother's brother, in the woods where no roads were ever created. I remembered fishing for crawdads in the ditch down the lane by the highway. I remembered eating all the strawberries I wanted from the huge strawberry patch. I remembered the taste of water out of a pail with a ladle that everyone shared. I remembered eating satsuma oranges, pomegranates, figs, pecans and tons of other things that my grandparents had in their yard. And the list goes on and on. All good memories.

The next minute I was in Shreveport where I spent most of my growing up years. I was suntanning as a teenager in the back yard till I was brown. I remembered playing school on the screened in front porch during the summer vacation. I remembered doing cartwheels and back bends in the green grass of the yard. I remembered getting up very early to practice the piano before going to early morning seminary. I remember Papa raising beagles and us playing with those puppies. I remembered trips to Ford Park where we had picnic lunches and playing in the play land. And the list goes on and on. All good memories.

Funny how quickly years pass when you have a flood of memories like that. It was good to remember and feel very blessed that I was basically a happy kid with not too many cares. So thank you little bird for helping me start my day with those good memories. I like it when that happens.

There's An Artist In The House...

This weekend we journeyed to LaGrange in search of the most recent graduate of the Community Center Art Class...Miss Bailey Marx. This little chickie has worked very hard for the past several Saturday's learning to do artwork. She has totally enjoyed her class and was fairly bursting with excitement at the opportunity for us to come to her class and see their art show on the final day of class.

Bailey made a full size drawing of herself. She made a diorama with a lot of bling on the outside of the box and inside was a beautiful horse and some eggs for it to take care of. She also made a large painting of a purple pony out in a multi-colored snow storm. And finally she completed a butterfly made out of her hand prints. The butterfly must have been made Saturday because one of her hands was very pink.

Right after the art show was the Spring Fling at Hayden's school.  Andie volunteered to help and we would take the Mini's with us. We enjoyed a hot dog dinner and the movie "Rio" at the Spring Fling before heading out. Andie would call us to pick her up when she finished.

The irony of the Spring Fling is that the date was chosen and publicized so as not to interfere with all the festivities associated with Derby Day in Louisville. There is a month long celebration prior to Derby Day. Then...the NCAA tournament ended up with University of Kentucky pitted against University of Louisville on Saturday evening. The Spring Fling moved its time a little earlier in the day so that people could get home to watch this momentous game. It is a really big rivalry and you could feel the electricity in the air up to the UK / UofL game. Churchill Downs had one of their spires blue and one red in honor of this event. T-shirts with the school logos were selling like hot cakes (where did that expression come from?).

I suggested to Claude and the kids as we left the school that we might go for ice cream. The kids were definitely on board for Dairy Queen. So Pa (Claude) headed to downtown LaGrange. Hayden and Bailey have both gotten old enough they are pretty neat with their ice cream eating. But Bailey gave us a laugh when she bit the top off her chocolate coating and then nibbled a hole in the side. This allowed her to get her thumb and a finger inside the chocolate shell and pull it completely off.

Bailey still doesn't always say the 'l' sound. She still substitutes it with a 'y' sound. Claude and I cracked up when she was licking away on her ice cream cone and said, "I yuv lickin'!!"

The Marx family were invited to the Soderquist's to watch the big Final Four game. Andie and Michael took Miss Bailey with them and Hayden, Claude and me stayed to watch the second movie for book 7 in the Harry Potter series.

We spent Saturday night and Sunday morning with the Marx family. Hayden woke me up and 7:20am with a little knocking on the wall. My signal to get up and come snuggle. We enjoyed our snuggle time as the rain poured down outside. Bailey eventually joined us. We decided to give Andie a present by the kids getting dressed and being downstairs so the rest of the adults could sleep a bit longer.

The kids watched a show while I did my physical therapy exercises. Andie joined us and she made banana nut pancakes for the breakfast.

It was decidedly cooler that we anticipated on Sunday with the rain pouring outside. We found Hayden snuggled down in the basket that holds the HUGE afghan I made. Bailey then had to have a turn. Then Andie assured them they didn't need to do that again, even though it was fun for one time, because it would destroy the integrity of the basket. So these are one time only pictures.

Hayden left with Andie to purchase a birthday gift for their little friend whose party they were attending in the afternoon. Bailey and I played kitty. She was the kitty and I was the owner. Basically I just followed her imagination as she laid out the things we should do. Lovin' life through the eyes of a five year old.

We managed to get Bailey and Andie's hair cut during the weekend. As Andie and Michael finished getting ready to take the kids to their birthday party, I realized Hayden had signed the card but Bailey had not. I gave the card to her and asked her to please sign it. She carefully drew two solid lines across the card with a dotted line in between, just like the paper they use to write on in school. Then she proceeded to write her name and add little curls and flourishes to some of the letters. Guess that art class is kickin' in now!!

Thanks Marx Family for inviting us to the Art Show, the Spring Fling and to enjoy a little time with the family.